Why not done as part of the winter works?—asks John Coxon

Published: Monday, 15 July 2024

CANAL & RIVER TRUST have really pushed the boat out with their Boaters Update this week. writes John Coxon.

I love the expression Brag Rag to describe it, as was once said to me by another contributor, 'it describes it beautifully I think'!

It tells 'With over 2,000 miles of canals and rivers it’s nigh on impossible to list everything we’ve done...but a scan of our stoppage notifications conveys that we’ve…

The list

Removed 23 wind-blown trees that were impeding navigation

Conducted/facilitated 15 bridge inspections

Carried out 11 general lock repairs such as repairing quoins and brickwork

Repaired ten pump out stations

Fixed (or in the process of fixing) eight embankments

Repaired seven Elsans

Fixed seven customer service facilities (such as toilets)

Repaired six bridges

Fixed six lock paddles

Repaired four sluices

Removed two sunken boats

Carried out one pilling project

Removed one sunken car (Macclesfield Canal)

Annoyingly had to clear one lot of illegal fly tipping (well, one that required a stoppage, there were plenty more!)

Worked to control one invasive species (Pennywort)'

We've done?...We've done?...shouldn't that read 'we've mostly had our contractors do', as their 'stoppage notifications' so often state?

Just picking-up a phone

Things like wind blown trees, broken pump-outs, blocked Elsans and toilets, removing sunken boats and cars, bridge inspections etc. are just about all done by contractors or third parties. CaRT's workload involved in these items mostly amounts to something like picking up a phone and calling a contractor.

Besides that, how much of this work should have been done in the winter under the winter works programme? How much inconvenience could have been saved for the affected boaters with better planning and management?

Many jobs such as repairing quoins and brickwork, lock paddles, bridges, sluices etc are jobs that should have been done in the winter as part of the winter works programme.

Should be identified for winter works

Lock beams falling off, paddles breaking, collars breaking, quoins, brickwork, and lock cills failing are all items that should be picked up and identified for winter works.

Most of this type of fault is due to deterioration over an extended period of time, in many cases measured in years?

Very few of these types of faults develop in a few days or even weeks. Lock beams, for instance, don't rot in a few days! Collars don't rust through in a few weeks etc. A good inspection programme would identify most, if not all, of these faults before they fail completely.

There are occasions when damage is caused by accidents but this is only a few percentage of the total.

If CaRT had not effectively shredded their winter works list then a considerable amount of this summer work could have been avoided.

Self praise is no recommendation

As the saying goes 'self praise is no recommendation' and as self praise is generally bragging, boaters just call their boaters' update 'The Brag Rag'.

It's the only way CaRT, it seems, can get any praise, no matter how they word it to try to make themselves look good, but I can assure them that we boaters are not taken in by it—as we are physically affected by the reality every day!